Word: turkeys
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...other issues, such as expanding the European Union to include some key U.S. allies, Sarkozy may be even more at odds with Bush than Chirac had been: Even more strongly than his predecessor, Sarkozy wants to shut the E.U. door to Turkey's membership, which is directly at odds with what Washington wants. Nor would Bush have much time for Sarko's complaints about the disparities in the dollar-euro exchange rate. Instead, expect the two men to emphasize their agreement (hardly new) on fighting the good fight in Afghanistan, gradual French reintegration within NATO, and doing something about thuggery...
Even on a normal day, Ibrahim Khalil, the complex straddling Turkey and Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, is a rather unusual international border crossing. Although it is an entry point into Iraq, there are no Iraqi soldiers, no Iraqi flags, and seemingly no Iraqi federal officials. Instead, the Iraqi side is controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government, which enforces its own customs and immigration policies, enforced at checkpoints manned by Kurdish peshmerga fighters under the flag of Kurdistan - a red, white, and green tricolor with a golden...
...Viewed from Turkey, these trappings of autonomy are a worrying prelude to an independent Kurdish state, a prospect to which Turkey - with its own restive Kurdish minority - is implacably hostile. Turkish soldiers often harass Kurds crossing at Ibrahim Khalil, according to Iraqi Kurdish border security officials. They confiscate books or documents that use the word "Kurdistan", deny passage to women called Kurdistan - a common female first name - and to Kurds of foreign nationality whose passports list "Kurdistan" as a place of birth...
...this contest, Turkey needs U.S. support to weigh in with Iraqi Kurds. Ridding the region of the PKK may sound like a difficult task, but starting a dialogue between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish leaders that would lead to peaceful cohabitation in the region will prove more difficult still. With reporting by Pelin Turgut/Istanbul
...Still, Turkey's PKK troubles are part of a larger set of problems with Kurds in the region. Turkey has accused the Iraqi Kurdish administration in northern Iraq of failing to do enough to clamp down on the PKK. This week, Turkey raised the possibility of economic sanctions against northern Iraq, including restrictions on the flow of traffic and goods at a key border crossing from Turkey into Iraq, as well as cutting off electricity that Turkey supplies to the region. Turkey's biggest fear is that Iraqi Kurds are intent on establishing a separate Kurdish state on their border...